After setting a competitive 245-run target, the hosts bowlers skittled out the visitors for 184 in the second innings on the fourth day to take an unassailable 3-1 lead in the series.
Post-tea, India lost their last six wickets for 58 runs with Ali (4/71), who took 5 for 63 in the first innings, and Ben Stokes (2/34) sharing six wickets for England. For India, captain Virat Kohli (58) and his deputy Ajinkya Rahane (51) showed some resistance by putting up 101 runs for the fourth wicket. But their departure ended any hopes of Indian fightback in the contest.
Stokes removed Hardik Pandya (0) with the third ball after tea to put India in the backfoot immediately. Rishabh Pant was though in his usual self, opening his account with a four off Stokes before smacking Ali for a six in the next over.
Rahane brought up his 14th fifty which came off 147 balls and comprised just one boundary. But Pant played too many shots for his own good and gave away a catch to Joe Root in sweeper cover off Ali. The youngster hit a six and couple of fours for his 12-ball 18.
When Ashwin joined Rahane in the middle, the visitors still needed 95 runs for an unlikely win. Rahane also failed to stay longer and was trapped leg before by Ali, leaving India struggling at 153/7.
Stokes then sent back birthday boy Ishant Sharma for naught, and Mohammed Shami (8) became Ali's fourth victim. Ashwin frustrated the hosts by scoring 25 off 36 balls with the help of a six and two fours, as the off-spinner delayed the inevitable.
Earlier, Kohli's commendable fightback was cut short just before lunch by Ali as India were in a spot reaching 126/4 at tea. The match stands on even keel with India needing another 119 runs.
Kohli's dismissal for a well-made 58 only spiced up things after he and vice-captain Rahane added 101 runs for the fourth wicket. This was after India lost top three players for only 22 runs on the board, while chasing a competitive 245-run target.
While the Indian captain would consider himself lucky that he survived an umpiring howler in the 17th over of the innings when TV umpire Joel Wilson ruled him not out despite the ball crashing onto the leg-stumps. The unlucky bowler was Ali, who finally got his man when Kohli gloved a delivery that had both turn and bounce to forward short-leg.
The Indian skipper showed a lot of patience during his 130-ball knock with four boundaries.
Post lunch, Kohli and Rahane had looked to play for time and tried cutting down all risky strokes. England though attacked from the word go, and both batsmen survived loud lbw shouts with the hosts losing their second review on the appeal against Rahane in the 25th over.
The duo dug in deep thereafter and sedately added 50 off 140 balls. Even as Rahane cut down on the risk percentage and concentrated on rotating strike instead, Kohli opened up with more confidence as 41 runs came in the first hour of play after lunch.
India crossed 100 in the 43rd over, with Kohli crossing the 500-run mark in this series. In doing so he brought up his 19th Test half-century off 114 balls.
The duo kept playing the same vein, and towards the end of session brought up their 100-partnership off 248 balls, before disaster struck and Kohli was dismissed just prior to tea.
In the first session, James Anderson (2-33) had Shikhar Dhawan (17) caught at slip and trapped Cheteshwar Pujara (5) lbw, as the Indian top-order struggled against lateral movement generated by the new ball.
KL Rahul's (0) struggles against the incoming delivery continues as well, bowled off Stuart Broad (1-23) in the fourth over, albeit he was unlucky to get a low toe-edge that deflected onto his stumps.
Pujara did use up one DRS referral for his lbw call, but replays showed the ball hitting bails and the decision stood on umpire's call.
Kohli and Rahane negotiated the tough passage of play until lunch thereafter, with the latter surviving a close lbw appeal right on the marker with DRS referral showing that the ball had impact outside off stump.
In the morning session, Mohammed Shami (4-57) made sure that England didn't get too ahead with their lead. Starting from overnight 260/8, their innings lasted only 4.2 overs with the hosts losing their last two wickets for just 11 runs and were bowled out for 271 runs (96.1 overs) in their second innings.
(With inputs from PTI)
from Times of India https://ift.tt/2MLYaUP
